Enkounters

On my recent visit to Arizona/Mexico I was awakened to the power of language when I met an Aztec man, Netse, 70, and his 20 yr old son. Both are descendants of the Mesheeka people, indigenous to the Arizona/Mexico lands. It was interesting and heartbreaking to find out that even though Netse still spoke the languages of their ancestors that his youngest son could not speak any.The son shared that it was a sacrifice they had to make so that he could get an education in English and learn in the same way many other children around the world were learning. Sometimes I wonder if it's such a bad thing that people around the world are losing their language and culture and instead adopting a global language that increases communication?  Or is it just another form of control and cultural hegemony? As always there are many sides to a story and multiple ways of looking at things. When I look at my own life, I'm thankful that I speak a language unique to my people. When I speak...

~Love God,Live life,One Enkounter at a Time~

I  feel like I've been to quite a few places in my life Jamaica, Guyana, Barbados, Trinidad, US: Florida, Tampa, Detroit, Ohio, Atlanta, Texas, Arizona, New York, Monterrey/Mexico, Sonora/Mexico, Toronto/Canada, Busan/South Korea...  The more I see, hear and experience in these countries is the more I realize just how small the world is.  I've seen so many similarities that I could reflect for days.  For instance, when I look at the issue of the border separating Mexico and the US, I see the same border separating North and South Korea. I see the same pain of a people longing to be reunified with loved ones, friends, community, a land they once shared.     US- Mexico border     North-South Korea Border  When I look at Toronto, I see New York, I see Busan and feel the same hopes and dreams of immigrants looking for a better life. When I look at Guyana, I see a glimpse of how Jamaican community life used to be back in days gone by -when c...

In life (and maybe on Christmas day) we all get different gifts in different shapes, forms and sizes and sometimes it's hard to appreciate our own gifts because we're busy looking over our shoulder at the shiny gift the other person got. But the GOOD NEWS is that the greatest and best GIFT of all came for EVERYONE in the form of a baby born in a manger of a virgin...A babe who from before He was born was a force to be reckoned with, who lived a triumphant life on earth and who still longs for us to accept the gift of His life --- salvation and eternal life. There is simply no greater gift! ~Love God,Live life,One Enkounter at a Time~

Updated November 16, 2021  A Christmas Story A Christmas Carol (Scrooge) Scrooged Home Alone 1-3 Elf Holiday Inn The Polar Express The Nightmare before Christmas Love Actually Miracle on 34th Street A Charlie Brown Christmas The Santa Clause National Lampoons Christmas Vacation The Muppet Christmas Carol The Preacher’s Wife A Christmas Kiss Gremlins The Grinch  ~Love God,Live life,One Enkounter at a Time~

Recently I had the privilege of volunteering at Free the Children's We Day  working in Media Relations. So among other things I had to learn the key messages of the group, and really fast. Free the Children is one of the largest organizations that mobilizes children to empower other children and they have been doing some fantastic work. The flag ship initiatives are the Adopt a Village program where children raise money to supply food to Kenyan villages as well as the Food Donation drive where children collect can foods during Halloween instead of treats and donate these to local food banks. We Day is an annual event that seeks to honor the hard work and commitment of children throughout the year and every child present at the lavish event had to have clocked hours in local volunteering. With tributes from A-list celebrities like Nelly Furtado, Kardinal Official and Danny Glover the event was very well planned, impressive and I'm sure the children appreciate...

The Enkounters blog is built on the belief that everybody has a story (enkounter) to share. So far it has been all about my interesting stories and the stories of those I have enkountered. That's all about to change soon. If you recently had an interesting life enkounter that changed your world view and that you believe has the power to impact somebody else, send an email describing that experience to smartedge.concepts@gmail.com and have your story posted right here on Enkounters. You just never know what you can ignite in others by sharing your story. ~Love God, Live life,One Enkounter at a Time~